Episode #249 - Behind a locked door lies a terrible secret. A secret that, if revealed, would alter the lives of everyone at Collinwood. There is one who is determined to know that secret--at all costs.
(Opening scene of Carolyn, Roger and Vicki in the drawing room and Jason eavesdropping on their conversation not summarized.)
Jason convinces Liz that the best course of action, given how curious her family is about the locked basement room, is to let them in there! Carolyn and Jason have some nasty exchanges as she calls him a hypocrite when he insists he wants to take the pressure off her mother,
and he retorts that they would soon see who the true hypocrite is.
Jason first takes the key from a reluctant Liz, checks out the basement, and finds nothing incriminating down there. He reports back to Liz and tells her it's a go--the entire family can go down there and all their doubts and concern that he's blackmailing her will be laid to rest.
(Entire drawing room scene of Carolyn, Roger and Vicki worrying about Liz and the basement room and then Liz offering to take them there not summarized.)
Carolyn, Vicki, and Roger follow Liz and Jason down to the basement, where Liz unlocks the door. While Vicki stands uncomfortably, not touching anything, and Jason merely looks smug,
Roger (who apologizes to his sister, knowing his tough this is on her) and Carolyn open suitcases, look at what one can assume is Paul Stoddard's old clothing, and check out dusty shelves. They walk over surprisingly clean flagstones under which, we assume, are the moldering remains of Paul.
When it's all over, Roger and Carolyn are contrite and apologize to Liz. Carolyn hugs her mother. Jason essentially lambastes them all for not listening to Liz in the first place, and for putting her through this oh-so-personal hell. He suggests Liz might like a moment alone in the basement room, and when Vicki, Roger and Carolyn troop out, he praises her for pulling it off. See what an asset he can be to her? he points out. He's taken off her chains (to replace them with the bounds of unholy matrimony, I think). By the way, now would be a good time to announce they're getting married, since everyone is upstairs, all together, and feeling pretty guilty for doing this to her. Liz leaves, sighing. Jason turns off the basement light.
Roger, sipping a brandy in the drawing room, says he feels like a heel, and Carolyn is feeling pretty guilty, too. Liz and Jason come in and Liz makes the announcement
--she and Jason are going to get married! Roger, Vicki and Carolyn look completely shocked, but Carolyn also looks like she's going to throw up.
NOTES: Mrs. Jason McGuire! Will it happen? Can Liz really buckle under and allow herself to be wed to such a terrible man? In a way, he's helped her out of yet another jam, hasn't he, but what new consequences will ensue as a result? He coerced her into this final, awful blackmail. Poor Liz. She finally convinced her family that there was nothing out of order in the basement room, but the rooms in her mind and heart are in far worse shape, and she doesn't dare allow them into those!
Episode #250 - The dawn has not yet come to Collinwood. And in the final hours of he night, there are dreams that trouble sleep. But something worse than nightmare grips the final dark. A reality no dream could conjure, a terror in the heart of a young woman that seeks to stun the mind and take away forever the memory of her name.
Sitting at the dressing table in Josette's room, gazing at her reflection, Maggie forced herself to remember just who she is--Maggie Evans, not Josette, daughter of Sam, and even though the sound of the accidentally-opened music box deterred her for a few moments, she kept her resolve firm. She also realized, however, that she had to fool Barnabas and Willie into believing she still believed herself to be Josette, which was going to be akin to walking a tightrope! She changes her voice to that of a grand-sounding lady when Willie comes up to fetch her for an audience with Barnabas, and Willie duly reports this to Barnabas. She comes downstairs and tells the vampire how much she enjoys listening to her music box, presenting her hand for a kiss. He orders Willie to get on with the "special job" he's been working on. Maggie nearly falters when Barnabas uses the bride word and assures her they'll soon be together for eternity.
She says she doesn't want to wear the glittering diamond necklace he has given to her until she comes to be his bride, but we can see she can't bear the thought of his putting it around her throat and this is an excuse. He tells her to leave him for the last time; next time they meet, they'll never be apart again. Just as a test, he calls her "Maggie" as she's leaving, but our Miss Evans is quick enough to ask if that's a servant's name, which is what it sounds like. Barn tells her Maggie was no one of any importance (ouch!), and he smiles, pleased, as she goes upstairs. Maggie stands on the landing, looking very perturbed.
Maggie, back in Josette's room, hears hammering from downstairs. She holds the necklace to her throat, remembers Barnabas' words and firmly resolves--it won't happen! Maggie follows the sounds of the hammering (Willie has built the coffin for her vampire self) and eavesdrops on Barnabas and Willie down in the basement. Barnabas explains that his power over Maggie isn't absolute, but once she becomes as he is, he will have none--she will be his, forever, Josette, and never remember Maggie. Barnabas comments that he's sure Josette will love the coffin, but Maggie, hugging a brick wall, listening to all this, doesn't look anything but petrified.
After Barnabas has gone, Willie catches Maggie in the basement. She tries to fool him into thinking she's Josette, calling "Maggie" a crude, common name, and orders him to allow her to take a walk on the grounds. Willie asks her if she thinks the coffin is beautiful, and she answers yes--gotcha! Willie reminds her she's only supposed to think it beautiful AFTER she becomes Barnabas' bride, so he knows she's pretending. She begs him to help her escape. She offers him the necklace as a reward, and even though the last time he lusted for jewelry he ended up a vampire victim,
Willie can't help admiring the stunning piece. They could both escape! she says. He can't kill Barnabas, he protests, but Maggie says SHE can! Willie touches the necklace in it's case and they both hear the sounds of the warning heartbeat from Barnabas' coffin. She picks up a sharp awl (?) and the two of them circle Barnabas' coffin, Willie insisting he had to protect Barnabas. He grabs her and forces her to drop the awl.
Maggie, dressed in a bridal veil, wedding gown and necklace, waits in Josette's room, gazing out the window at the setting sun. She stares at Josette's portrait, listens to the music box and firmly reminds herself,"I'm Maggie Evans!" Willie, his manner apologetic, comes to her. It's time, he says quietly. He advises her to give in to what Barnabas wants, but it saddens her to think of Maggie Evans being gone forever. "Tomorrow, you won't care," he says. (Oh, that's terrible!) He leads her down to the basement, for all the world like a best man or father of the bride, and leaves the trembling Maggie alone beside Barnabas' coffin, to her consternation. Maggie spots the awl lying on the floor, picks it up, and lays it on the coffin Willie finished for her. She hears the heartbeat, ignores it, and lifts the lid. She raises the awl over the slumbering Barnabas,but at that very moment, he awakens, sits up, and bares his fangs at the terrified young woman.
NOTES: Oh, Maggie, too bad there wasn't another way for you to handle this--and WHY did you attempt to murder Barnabas when you KNEW he was just about to awaken? I guess she felt she had no choice, what with this being her last evening as a human being. Barnabas was going to bite her one final time, rendering her a vampire for eternity. Willie told her she wouldn't care. How that makes me shiver!
Barnabas sure does have some pretty baubles, doesn't he? The guy knows how to shower a lady with jewels! If she and Willie had been able to leave, they'd have been able to get plenty of money for that necklace.
What will happen to Willie and Maggie now?
Love, Robin
